162 UP cops succumbed to Covid-19 since outbreak, says ADG (law & order)

MEERUT: A total of 162 police personnel have lost their lives due to Covid-19 since its outbreak in Uttar Pradesh, a senior police officer said on Sunday.
Prashant Kumar, additional director general (ADG) (law and order) also said that 90% staff of the UP police department has been vaccinated as they were frontline workers. “The remaining ones (10%) either did not take the jab out of choice or were medically advised against it due to their existing health issues,” he said.
The list of the deceased also includes names of some personnel from Government Railway Police (GRP), Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), Anti-Corruption Organization (ACO), Crime Branch and Crime Investigation Department CB-CID.
ADG Kumar also said that very soon compensation will be given in all the cases.
“Apart from the compensation, chief minister Yogi Adityanath has also directed to expedite the process of giving a compassionate job to the dependent of each police personnel who died of Covid-19,” the officer said.
According to the department, 21,424 police personnel have contracted the virus since the outbreak. Of them 19,085 recovered and 162 succumbed to the contagious disease.
In Meerut zone’s five districts -- Meerut, Saharanpur, Bulandshahr, Hapur and Ghaziabad -- 24 policemen died due to Covid-19.
Meanwhile, a plan to set up a Covid-19 hospital at reserved police lines in all the districts of the state in the pipeline. In Meerut, a 30-bed L2-hospital is already treating patients.